Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T06:29:38.582Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Late Quaternary Evolution of Coastal Sand Barriers, Port Stephens-Myall Lakes Area, Central New South Wales, Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

B.G. Thom
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Faculty of Military Studies, University of New South Wales, Duntroon, Australia
G.M. Bowman
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Faculty of Military Studies, University of New South Wales, Duntroon, Australia
P.S. Roy
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of New South Wales, Department of Mineral Resources, Sydney, Australia

Abstract

The geomorphic and stratigraphic history of six coastal embayments has been studied in the vicinity of Newcastle, New South Wales (N.S.W.), Australia, in order to determine modes of deposition, and the degree to which marine and estuarine deposits can be correlated and dated. Each embayment possesses its own distinctive suite of landforms ranging from those dominated by coastal dunes to those in which beach ridges occur. In four of the bays dual sand barriers, comprising an Inner Barrier and an Outer Barrier, provide the framework for correlation between embayments. Six stages are recognized in the deposition of late Quaternary sediments in this area: (i) Pre-Last Interglacial, involving accumulation of separate composite units consisting of estuarine clays and transgressive dune complexes; (ii) Last Interglacial stage during which Inner Barriers were formed; (iii) Last Glacial reworking of barrier and dune sands by westerly winds; (iv) Postglacial Marine Transgression during which the Outer Barriers were initiated; (v) Mid-Holocene stage following cessation of sea-level rise ca. 6000–6500 yr B.P. on this coast, and involving progradation of Outer Barriers in some embayments; and (vi) Late Holocene episodic eolian reworking of dune complexes and Outer Barriers. The relatively high wave and wind energy as well as the tectonic setting of the central N.S.W. coast results in somewhat different geomorphic histories from barrier-island coasts in North America and Europe.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bernard, H.A. Le Blanc, R.J. (1965). Résumé of the Quaternary geology of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico province Wright, H.E. Frey, D.G. The Quaternary of the United States Princeton Univ. Press Princeton, NJ 137185 Google Scholar
Bird, E.C.F., (1961). The coastal barriers of east Gippsland, Australia The Geographical Journal 127, 460468 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bird, E.C.F. (1973). Australian coastal barriers Schwartz, M.L. Barrier Islands Dowden, Hutchinson, and Ross Stroudsburg, Pa 410426 Google Scholar
Bird, E.C.F.(1978). The Geomorphology of the Gippsland Lakes Region Ministry for Conservation Victoria, Australia Environmental Studies Series, Publication No. 186 Google Scholar
Bowler, J.M., (1976). Aridity in Australia: age, origin and expression in aeolian landforms and sediments Earth-Science Reviews 12, 279310 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chappell, J. Thom, B.G., (1978). Termination of last interglacial episode and the Wilson Antarctic surge hypothesis Nature (London) 272, 809910 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chappell, J. Veeh, H., (1978). Late Quaternary tectonic movements and sea-level changes at Timor and Atauro Island Geological Society of America Bulletin 89, 356368 2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, W.S., (1958). Coastal sand dunes of Oregon and Washington Geological Society of America, Memoir 72,CrossRefGoogle Scholar
David, T.W.E. Etheridge, R., (1890). Raised beaches of the Hunter River delta Records of the Geological Survey of New South Wales 2, 3752 Google Scholar
Davies, P.J., (1975). Shallow seismic structure of the continental shelf, southeast Australia Journal of the Geological Society of Australia 22, 345359 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, P.J., (1979). Marine geology of the continental shelf off southeast Australia Bureau of Mineral Resources Bulletin 195, Canberra, Australia Google Scholar
Du Bar, J.R. Johnson, H.S. Thom, B.G. Hatchell, W.O. (1974). Neogene stratigraphy and morphology, south flank of the Cape Fear arch, North and South Carolina Oaks, R.Q. Du Bar, J.R. Post-Miocene Stratigraphy Central and Southern Atlantic Coastal Plain Utah State Univ. Press Logan 139173 Google Scholar
Fisk, H.N. (1959). Padre Island and Laguna Madre Flats, coastal south Texas Russell, R.J. Second Coastal Geography Conference Coastal Studies Institute, Louisiana State University Baton Rouge 103152 Google Scholar
Hails, J.R. Hoyt, J.H., (1968). Barrier development on submerged coasts: Problems of sea-level changes from a study of the Atlantic Coastal Plain of Georgia, U.S.A. and parts of the East Australian Coast Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie Supplementband 7, 2455 Google Scholar
Hayes, D.E. Ringis, J., (1973). Seafloor spreading in the Tasman Sea Nature (London) 243, 454458 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoyt, J.H. Henry, V.J. Weimar, R.J. (1968). Age of Late-Pleistocene shoreline deposits, coastal Georgia Morrison, R.B. Wright, H.E. Means of Correlation of Quaternary Successions Univ. of Utah Press Salt Lake City 381394 Google Scholar
Kraft, J.C., (1971). Sedimentary facies pattern and geologic history of a Holocene marine transgression Geological Society of America Bulletin 82, 21312158 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kraft, J.C. Allen, E. Belknap, D.F. John, C.J. Maurmeyer, E.M. (1979). Processes and morphologic evolution of an estuarine and coastal barrier system Leatherman, S.P. Barrier Islands Academic Press New York 149184 Google Scholar
Ku, T.L. Kimmell, M.A. Easton, W.H. O'Neil, T.J., (1974). Eustatic sea level 120,000 years ago on Oahu, Hawaii Science 185, 959962 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langford-Smith, T. Thom, B.G., (1969). Coastal morphology of New South Wales Journal of the Geological Society of Australia 16, 572580 Google Scholar
Leatherman, S.P., (1979). Barrier dune systems: A reassessment Sedimentary Geology 24, 116 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Blanc, R.J. Hodgson, W.D.(1959). Origin and development of the Texas shoreline Russell, R.J. Second Coastal Geography Conference Coastal Studies Institute, Louisiana State University Baton Rouge 57102 Google Scholar
Ly, C.K.(1976). Depositional and Mineralogical Studies of Quaternary Sedimentation in the Newcastle-Port Stephens Area of New South Wales Ph.D. thesis University of Newcastle Newcastle, Australia [Unpublished] Google Scholar
Ly, C.K., (1978). Late Quaternary deposits of the Newcastle-Port Stephens area as revealed by grain size analysis and scanning electron microscopy Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 111, 7788 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, J.F. Thom, B.G., (1976). The sea level in the last interglacial Nature (London) 263, 120121 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mörner, N.A., (1971). The position of the ocean level during the interstadial at about 30,000 B.P.—a discussion from a climatic-glaciologic point of view Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 8, 132143 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polach, H. Thom, B.G.(1973). Problems of radiocarbon dating logs in coastal sandrock in northern New South Wales, Australia Abstracts, 9th INQUA Congress Christchurch, New Zealand 293294 Google Scholar
Roy, P.S.(1980). Quaternary depositional environments and stratigraphy of the Fullerton Cove region, central New South Wales coast, Australia Geological Survey of New South Wales 2 189220 Record No. 19 Google Scholar
Roy, P.S. Crawford, E.A.(1980). Quaternary geology of the Newcastle Bight inner continental shelf, New South Wales, Australia Geological Survey of New South Wales 2 145188 Record No. 19 Google Scholar
Roy, P.S. Thom, B.G. Wright, L.D., (1980). Holocene sequences on an embayed high-energy coast: An evolutionary model Sedimentary Geology 26, 119 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shackleton, N.J. Opdyke, N.D., (1973). Oxygen isotope and palaeomagnetic stratigraphy of equatorial Pacific core V28-238: Oxygen isotope temperatures and ice volumes on a 105 year and 106 year scale Quaternary Research 3, 3955 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shepherd, M.J.(1970). Coastal Geomorphology of the Myall Lakes Area, New South Wales Ph.D. thesis University of Sydney Sydney, Australia [Unpublished] Google Scholar
Stapor, F.W. Tanner, W.F.,(1973). Errors in the pre-Holocene C-14 scale Transactions of the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies 23, 351354 Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. Polach, H.A., (1977). Reporting of 14C data: A discussion Radiocarbon 19, 358363 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thiede, J., (1979). Wind regimes over the late Quaternary southwest Pacific Ocean Geology 7, 259262 2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thom, B.G., (1965). Late Quaternary coastal morphology of the Port Stephens-Myall Lakes area, N.S.W. Journal of the Royal Society of New South Wales 98, 2336 Google Scholar
Thom, B.G.(1967). Coastal and Fluvial Landforms; Horry and Marion Counties, South Carolina Louisiana State University Baton Rouge Coastal Studies Series 19 Google Scholar
Thom, B.G., (1973). The dilemma of high interstadial sea levels during the last glaciation Progress in Geography 5, 170246 Google Scholar
Thom, B.G., (1974). Coastal erosion in eastern Australia Search 5, 198209 Google Scholar
Thom, B.G. (1978). Coastal sand deposition in southeast Australia during the Holocene Davies, J.L. Williams, M.A.J. Landform Evolution in Australasia Australian National Univ. Press Canberra 197214 Google Scholar
Thom, B.G. Chappell, J., (1975). Holocene sea level relative to Australia Search 6, 9093 Google Scholar
Thom, B.G. Polach, H. Bowman, G.M.(1978). Holocene Age Structure of Coastal Sand Barriers in New South Wales, Australia Department of Geography, University of New South Wales Duntroon, Australia Google Scholar
Thom, B.G. Roy, P.S.(1980). Late Quaternary marine deposition in New South Wales and southern Queensland Journal of the Geological Society of Australia in press Google Scholar
Thom, B. G. Shepherd, M. S. Ly, C. K. Roy, P. S., and Bowman, G. M. “Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology of the Port Stephens-Myall Lakes region,” Publication No. 6. Department of Biogeography and Geomorphology, Australian National University, Canberra, in press.Google Scholar
van Straaten, L.M.J.U., (1965). Coastal barrier deposits in south and north Holland Mededelingen van de Geologische Stichting, Nieuwe Serie 17, 4175 Google Scholar
Veeh, H.H., (1966). Th230/U234 and U234/U238 ages of Pleistocene high sea level stand Journal of Geophysical Research 71, 33793386 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, L.D., (1976). Nearshore wave-power dissipation and the coastal energy regime of the Sydney-Jervis Bay region, New South Wales: a comparison Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 27, 633640 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, L.D. Chappell, J. Thom, B.G. Bradshaw, M. Cowell, P., (1979). Morphodynamics of reflective and dissipative beach and inshore systems: southeastern Australia Marine Geology 32, 105140 CrossRefGoogle Scholar